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GOLDEN Square will carry the season's most potent batting line-up into this weekend's Bendigo District Cricket Association grand final.
The Bulldogs will take on Huntly-North Epsom - the No.2 bowling unit - in what shapes as an enthralling tussle between bat and ball at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
Square heads into the grand final having done little wrong this season - its only defeat being a one-run loss to its grand final opponent, the Power, when it sensationally capitulated, losing 7-16 at home in round four.
"We've played really consistent cricket throughout the season, apart from about an hour of that game against Huntly-North that cost us," Golden Square captain Ben Gun said this week.
"But at the same time we did learn a lot from that game when we lost the 7-16... the biggest thing being to make sure we bat with intent from the first ball to the last.
"We went into our shell too much in that game and into survival mode a bit when we only needed 17 more runs and losing those quick wickets, we dug ourselves into a hole."
The collapse against the Power in round four is the outlier for Golden Square with the bat this season.
Square hasn't been bowled out in any of its nine games since, during which it has plundered six scores of 250-plus, including 9-305, 7-280 and 9-258 in its past three matches.
READ MORE - Grand final teams
Such is the batting depth in the side, Golden Square boasts four players - Gunn, Tim Wood, Scott Woodman and Liam Smith - who have made centuries this season.
Huntly-North Epsom will be eager to see the back of opener Wood early given the carnage he has inflicted on the Power this season.
Wood opened the season with 110 in Square's round one one-day win over the Power, and then scored 72 in their round four meeting.
Wood has clearly been the most consistent of the Square batsmen throughout the season and heads into the grand final averaging 50.1 and with 652 runs.
It has been a renaissance season for Wood given he was dropped to the second XI last season, with his impact for the side not only just the amount of runs he has scored, but the speed in which he has done so.
It has been a regular occurrence this season for Golden Square to have at least 50 on the board after 10 overs as Wood has taken the attack to the opposition bowlers from the outset.
"Woodsy has had a great season and has batted with fantastic intent," Gunn said.
"Rarely have we had players come in with the score two for not many with Woodsy and Ryan Hartley later in the season at the top of the order doing a great job."
Keeper-batsman Hartley joined Golden Square mid-season from Premier Cricket club Prahran and heads into the grand final with scores of 63 and 57 among his past three innings.
There's irony in Huntly-North Epsom being Hartley's grand final opponent given he made his BDCA first XI debut for the Power as a 12-year-old in 2011.
It's an experienced Golden Square side that will take to the field in the grand final that features two players from the club's last premiership team in 2009 - coach Grant Connelly and Scott Johnson.
This weekend presents Johnson with the chance of winning a sixth premiership with Golden Square.
As well as the 2009 triumph over Strathdale-Maristians, Johnson also played in each of Golden Square's run of four-consecutive flags between 1996 and 1999.
It looked as though another premiership opportunity could pass Johnson by when he spent much of December and January in the second XI, but in three games back in the first XI batting at No.6 he has scored 41, 54 and 78 n.o. in last week's semi-final victory over Strathdale.
While the batting has created most of the headlines for Square, the side has been steady with the ball.
The trio of spin twins Gunn (29), Smith (26) and all-rounder Scott Trollope (22) have combined for 77 of the side's 117 wickets, while two of their younger players in Corey Van Aken (3-16) and Connor Miller (2-16) bagged five between them last week in the semi-final win over the Suns.
Miller spent the first four rounds of the season in the third XI, but now finds himself in the first XI grand final team after earning his spot in the side in the final round.
"With the bowling stocks, we're not a side that is going to roll an opposition for 60 or 70; we toil hard and are always up for the fight," Gunn said.
"We're more of a containing side, but still try to play as attacking as we can and I couldn't be more happy with how we've gone with the ball this season, particularly last week to have a side like Strathdale 9-130 at one stage."
In a sign of the depth at Golden Square this season, the club not only has its first XI team in the grand final, but so too its second XI (v Bendigo) and third XI (v Bendigo United) sides.
"It's a great feeling around the club, particularly after the firsts, seconds and thirds all lost close semi-finals last season," Gunn said.
"This weekend is why we play cricket and, hopefully, we can have some success."
Play in the first XI grand final gets under way at noon on Saturday and Sunday.
THE TEAM
BEN GUNN (c)
Runs: 527 Avr: 47.91
HS: 155* v Strathdale
100s: 1 50s: 3
Wkts: 29 Avr: 17.2
BB: 5-79 v Strathfieldsaye
Econ: 3.06 Strike: 33.72
Fielding: 6 dismissals
MVP points: 1167
...............................
GRANT CONNELLY
Runs: 204 Avr: 22.67
HS: 81 v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 1
Wkts: 11 Avr: 26.3
BB: 4-18 v Bendigo United
Econ: 2.40 Strike: 66.00
Fielding: 9 dismissals
MVP points: 514
...............................
RYAN HARTLEY
Runs: 229 Avr: 25.44
HS: 63 v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 2
Fielding: 7 dismissals
MVP points: 304
...............................
SCOTT JOHNSON
Runs: 182 Avr: 45.50
HS: 78* v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 2
Fielding: 6 dismissals
MVP points: 242
...............................
CONNOR MILLER
Runs: 14 Avr: 14.00
HS: 14 v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 0
Wkts: 3 Avr: 15.6
BB: 2-16 v Strathdale
Econ: 2.47 Strike: 38.00
Fielding: 1 dismissal
MVP points: 84
...............................
HAMISH SCHUMACHER
Runs: 36 Avr: 18.00
HS: 35 v Strathdale
100s: 0 50s: 0
Fielding: 1 dismissal
MVP points: 46
...............................
LIAM SMITH
Runs: 233 Avr: 38.83
HS: 100* v Bendigo
100s: 1 50s: 1
Wkts: 26 Avr: 20.65
BB: 4-41 v White Hills
Econ: 3.02 Strike: 41.08
Fielding: 5 dismissals
MVP points: 808
...............................
SCOTT TROLLOPE
Runs: 346 Avr: 38.44
HS: 66 v Kangaroo Flat
100s: 0 50s: 4
Wkts: 22 Avr: 19.45
BB: 5-63 v Sandhurst
Econ: 2.73 Strike: 42.82
Fielding: 6 dismissals
MVP points: 851
...............................
COREY VAN AKEN
Runs: 22 Avr: 22.0
HS: 10* v White Hills
100s: 0 50s: 0
Wkts: 14 Avr: 18.71
BB: 4-30 v Huntly-North
Econ: 2.65 Strike: 42.43
Fielding: 2 dismissals
MVP points: 322
...............................
TIM WOOD
Runs: 652 Avr: 50.15
HS: 110 v Huntly-North
100s: 1 50s: 5
Fielding: 9 dismissals
MVP points: 747
...............................
SCOTT WOODMAN
Runs: 357 Avr: 29.75
HS: 127 v Bendigo United
100s: 1 50s: 1
Fielding: 13 dismissals
MVP points: 497
...............................
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